1747 Tasting Notes

Sipdown. I finally realized what this tea reminded me of – creme de menthe liqueur (minus the alcohol) mixed with something creamy – maybe something a bit like a Grasshopper in tea form being the end result.

Preparation

I’m a bit leery of guayusa due to the high caffeine content so I only did the minimum recommended steeping time from the package. There are huge chunks of papaya and peach in there and the smell of the dry tea is an interesting mix of fruity and herbal. I get some pretty good flavour from the papaya and peaches – I’m not sure if it’s those or the guayusa itself that are giving the tea a slightly sweet undertone. There’s a slightly herbal taste but not as strong as I would have expected from the smell.

The caffeine amount turned put just right – I’d only had a few hours of sleep last night and was super groggy, but this woke me up without making me jittery and gave me just the right amount of energy to go about my day.

Preparation

I used to work at a chocolate shop that also sold ice cream during the summer and one of the most popular summer flavours was rum raisin ice cream. It’s almost uncanny how accurate the scent of the dry tea is. The flavour isn’t quite there however – given the scent I was expecting the rum raisin flavours to be stronger than they are. The ice cream part is down pat, particularly after I added a bit of skim milk to it, but the rest is a bit weak.

Preparation

I was purchasing some discounted summer teas from the newly-opened Davids Tea store in my town and they threw this sample in with the purchase. It’s not really a tea that catches my interest enough for me to buy on my own, so the chance to try a little bit out for free is nice. I’ve found some unexpected treasures that way.

This tea, however, isn’t one. The apple-vanilla scent is nice, though I find it to be a bit artificial. This isn’t a spiced cider sort of a tea, instead it tries to be like freshly pressed apple juice/cider. Unfortunately it mostly just tastes like sweet-ish, watery apple juice to my taste buds. That may just mean I need to steep it longer, and I’m glad I have enough for another cup. We’ll see.

Preparation

I missed this tea on the first go-round but I managed to snag a pouch when it was re-blended recently. Frank doesn’t do many oolong-based blends so this one intrigued me. The smell of the tea is very sweet with a mixed fruity-floral undertone. The flavour is also distinctly sweet and smooth though personally I think it tastes more like a sweet cream than caramel to me. The apple flavour is subtle, though I think the oolong based helps it along, still it would be nice if it were a touch stronger.

Is this tea the same as what I’ve heard called ‘Sun Moon Lake’ black tea? I know it’s produced from a Taiwanese Assam-variety tea plant like this tea is.

The brewed liquor is a lovely dark reddish shade, almost like a garnet and the aroma is rather fruity. The flavour is something unique – has the robustness of Assam and there is a bit of malt though I would describe the dominant flavour of the tea to be something more like cocoa with a bit of bakey-ness followed by a sweet, slightly fruity (citrus maybe?) note. It has an extremely smooth feel in the mouth and I don’t feel the need to add milk to tone down it down like I do with most Indian Assams.

Butiki Teas has a real winner here – I completely understand why this is one of the top teas on the entire site.

For some reason I accidentally removed this tea from my cupboard when I still had more than half a pouch left. I made up a big pitcher of iced tea and for a change instead of agave I sweetened it with Meyer Lemon infused simple syrup from Sonoma Syrup Co. (check them out, they’ve got a huge range of flavours available http://sonomasyrup.com/ ). The result is crisp, fresh and (naturally) very lemony). There’s a bit of a herbal tang in the aftertaste that I’m not hugely fond of, but on the whole the results are good.

Preparation

…Well I wasn’t quite expecting liquid cinnamon hearts mixed with orange flavouring when I tried the sample of this tea that I had kicking around. It’s so sweet I’m half-wondering if it’s sent my blood sugar levels soaring. Indeed looking at the dry leaves they’re glossy with oil – probably a ton of cinnamon oil I’m guessing. Now I don’t mind cinnamon but this is too much for my tastes.

Preparation

Sipdown. I’ve been saving the last of this tea up for awhile, but last week the 40C heat and the prospect of company coming over prompted me to turn it into a big pitcher of iced tea. It makes a lovely refreshing drink that barely needs any sweetener – plus it’s caffeine-free so I can drink it in the evenings and not have to worry about it keeping me awake. It’s too bad Davids Tea didn’t bring this blend back this summer.

Preparation

I’ve had this kicking around in my cupboard for years but as this is a pu-erh I doubt that the extra bit of aging hurt it too much. This is very kind pu-erh and one I’d probably recommend to someone who had never tried a plain pu-erh before. It has that earthy flavour characteristic of pu-erh, but though it’s distinct it’s also quite gentle and mixed with a bit of malty smoothness. There’s a sweet undertone and I agree with the other bloggers who think that there’s a slight floral note to the tea as well. This tea just might encourage me to drink pu-erh more often.

Preparation

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I’m a university student in her twenties who’s currently working her way toward a Bachelor of Natural Resource Science degree. I love both science and science-fiction and I’m a history nut on top of that. Maybe I should just call myself a nerd and leave it there. ;)

I’ve been drinking tea since I was young but it’s only in the past couple years that I’ve become interested in the good-quality stuff.